Transportation of the future?

A look back in time at what some thought travel in the future would look like.

By Chris Preovolos

Photo: Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

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Elon Musk’s proposed “hyperloop” system for whisking travelers between San Francisco and Los Angeles inside elevated tubes is technically feasible and should be expanded into a nationwide network, even though it would cost more per mile than initially thought.
That’s the conclusion of an unusual startup company formed to pursue the idea, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. The startup, really a collection of unpaid volunteers with day jobs at some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, will release an update on its efforts Friday.

This isn't the first time that an idea for futuristic transportation has wowed the public, here's a look back in time at what some thought the future of travel would look like:

1908: An illustrated plate from the novel 'The War in the Air', by H G Wells, published in 1908, foresaw the importance of air forces in combat. This futuristic view shows a vehicle travelling on a monorail cable suspended between 'iron Eiffel Tower pillars', with ships sailing on the sea below and an airship flying in the sky above. English novelist and historian Herbert George Wells' (1866-1946) publications included 'The Time Machine' (1895) and 'The War of the Worlds' (1898). The Channel Tunnel was opened in 1994, 86 years after Wells? prediction of a transport link between Britain and France.

1908: An illustrated plate from the novel 'The War in the Air', by H G Wells, published in 1908, foresaw the importance of air forces in combat. This futuristic view shows a vehicle travelling on a monorail ... more

Photo: Science & Society Picture Librar, SSPL Via Getty Images

1908: An illustrated plate from the novel 'The War in the... Photo-5042156.68165 - Connecticut Post

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1905: Airships flying over an industrialized city. An imagined vision of the future, from a serial "War in the Air" by HG Wells. Author Herbert George Wells.

1905: Airships flying over an industrialized city. An imagined vision of the future, from a serial "War in the Air" by HG Wells. Author Herbert George Wells.

1930: The first load of passengers queuing for the Bennie Railplane in Glasgow; the inventor George Bennie is third in the queue. The streamlined cars are self propelled, driven by air screws in front and behind, and hang from a steel girder.

1930: The first load of passengers queuing for the Bennie Railplane in Glasgow; the inventor George Bennie is third in the queue. The streamlined cars are self propelled, driven by air screws in front and ... more

Photo: J. A. Hampton, Getty Images

1930: The first load of passengers queuing for the Bennie... Photo-5042161.68165 - Connecticut Post

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1955: A Paris London by flying cab, illustrated in "Meccano Magazine."

1955: A Paris London by flying cab, illustrated in "Meccano Magazine."

1957: An architect's model of 'Skyport 2000', a futuristic proposal for an airport building to stand in St George's Circus, near Waterloo Station, London in the year 2000. Made for the Glass Age Development Committee and designed by architect James Dartford, the model shows how aircraft could land and take off from a giant platform supported by three glass-clad pillars. These would contain lifts carrying passengers down to a hotel, offices, and parking for private planes and cars.

1957: An architect's model of 'Skyport 2000', a futuristic proposal for an airport building to stand in St George's Circus, near Waterloo Station, London in the year 2000. Made for the Glass Age Development ... more

UNSPECIFIED - OCTOBER 01: people in a flying machine in a futurist town, illustration by Albert Robida, 1890, engraving

UNSPECIFIED - OCTOBER 01: people in a flying machine in a futurist town, illustration by Albert Robida, 1890, engraving

Photo: Apic, Getty Images

UNSPECIFIED - OCTOBER 01: people in a flying machine in a futurist... Photo-5041504.68165 - Connecticut Post

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UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1867: French cartoon shows a man riding on a bicycle-like flying machine while looking through a telescope attached to the front. Two balloons, "Velocipedes]" and "Domanie," are attached at front and rear as are propeller-like wheels. less

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1867: French cartoon shows a man riding on a bicycle-like flying machine while looking through a telescope attached to the front. Two balloons, "Velocipedes]" and "Domanie," are attached at ... more

4th July 1930: The first load of passengers queuing for the Bennie Railplane in Glasgow; the inventor George Bennie is third in the queue. The streamlined cars are self propelled, driven by air screws in front and behind, and hang from a steel girder. less

4th July 1930: The first load of passengers queuing for the Bennie Railplane in Glasgow; the inventor George Bennie is third in the queue. The streamlined cars are self propelled, driven by air screws in front ... more

Photo: J. A. Hampton, Getty Images

4th July 1930: The first load of passengers queuing for the Bennie... Photo-5041499.68165 - Connecticut Post

Flying machines in the shape of fish. A futuristic view of the 20th... Photo-5041519.68165 - Connecticut Post

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15th February 1957: An architect's model of 'Skyport 2000', a futuristic proposal for an airport building to stand in St George's Circus, near Waterloo Station, London in the year 2000. Made for the Glass Age Development Committee and designed by architect James Dartford, the model shows how aircraft could land and take off from a giant platform supported by three glass-clad pillars. These would contain lifts carrying passengers down to a hotel, offices, and parking for private planes and cars. less

15th February 1957: An architect's model of 'Skyport 2000', a futuristic proposal for an airport building to stand in St George's Circus, near Waterloo Station, London in the year 2000. Made for the Glass Age ... more

UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 09: ?The George Bennie Railplane System of Transport: Swift, Safe, Sure'. Poster promoting the George Bennie Railplane System. The poster states that the railplane was 'erected over LNER LINE - Milngavie Station'. It was actually over an LNER (London & North Eastern Railway) siding to Burnbrae Dye Works. The poster shows the Railplane (a suspended monorail for passengers set above the existing railway) with an LNER locomotive seen travelling underneath. The project, funded by George Bennie, was set up at Burnbrae, near Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, as an experiment. It was dismantled in 1956. Artwork by WCN who worked for the McCorquodale Studio. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images) less

UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 09: ?The George Bennie Railplane System of Transport: Swift, Safe, Sure'. Poster promoting the George Bennie Railplane System. The poster states that the railplane was 'erected over LNER ... more

UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 20: Illustrated plate from the novel 'The War in the Air', by H G Wells, published in 1908, which foresaw the importance of air forces in combat. This futuristic view shows a vehicle travelling on a monorail cable suspended between 'iron Eiffel Tower pillars', with ships sailing on the sea below and an airship flying in the sky above. English novelist and historian Herbert George Wells' (1866-1946) publications included 'The Time Machine' (1895) and 'The War of the Worlds' (1898). The Channel Tunnel was opened in 1994, 86 years after Wells? prediction of a transport link between Britain and France. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images) less

UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 20: Illustrated plate from the novel 'The War in the Air', by H G Wells, published in 1908, which foresaw the importance of air forces in combat. This futuristic view shows a vehicle ... more

FRANCE - JANUARY 09: 'Les Ballons Transatlantique', (?Transatlantic Balloons?). Colour print by the French illustrator and caricaturist, Albert Guillaume (1873-1942) made for ?L?Assiette au Beurre? , a French satirical magazine published from 1901 to 1914. The image shows passengers on an aerial steam ship flying over the ocean on a transatlantic voyage. The caption below laments the lateness of English balloons and the long journey time from Le Havre to New York. Guillaume produced illustrations for numerous popular journals and many of his illustrations were published in albums during the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century. He was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. Dimensions: 292mm x 222mm. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images) less

FRANCE - JANUARY 09: 'Les Ballons Transatlantique', (?Transatlantic Balloons?). Colour print by the French illustrator and caricaturist, Albert Guillaume (1873-1942) made for ?L?Assiette au Beurre? , a French ... more